Material collecting means

ABSTRACT

Material collecting means comprising a frame formed of rigid elongated members to form an open geometrical figure such as a right-angled parallelogram having a pair of prongs extending downward from opposite sides and adapted to be projected into the ground to support the frame in substantially perpendicular position. Several embodiments are provided which respectively are of a rigid and a collapsible nature. The frame is adapted to have an elongated, flexible collection bag disposed with its open mouth folded around the members comprising the frame and connected thereto by clamping means so as to hold said mouth in generally rectangular position to receive leaves, lawn sweepings and the like, which may be swept into the bag until the bag is full.

United States Patent 1151 3,697,030 Schultz 1 51 Oct. 10, 1972 [54] MATERIAL COLLECTING MEANS [72] Inventor: Pius Dale Schultz, 16 Maple Road, Pr'mary Examiner-chancellor Hams York, 17403 Attorney-C. Hercus Just [22] Filed: Dec. 11, 1970 [57] ABSTRACT [21] Appl. N0.: 97,171 Material collecting means comprising a frame formed of rigid elongated members to form an open geometri- [52] U 8 Cl 248/101 15/257 1 248/153 cal figure such as a right-angled parallelogram having [51] i i 6 67/12 a pair of prongs extending downward from opposite [58] Fie'ld 15/257 1 sides and adapted to be projected into the ground to 1 5 3 support the frame in substantially perpendicular position. Several embodiments are provided which respectively are of a rigid and a collapsible nature. The [56] References cued frame is adapted to have an elongated, flexible collec- UNITED ATE PATENTS tion bag disposed with its open mouth folded around the members comprising the frame and connected 3,135,984 6/1964 Henke l5/257.l thereto by clamping means so as to hold Said mouth in 1,458,216 6/1923 Wood ..248/99 generally rectangular position to receive leaves, lawn g kl d sweepings and the like, which may be swept into the ac un b b f ll 1,012,045 12/1911 Adams ..248/99 x ag e ag 1,714,308 5/1929 Gunderson ..248/95 X 6 Claims, 9 Drawing Figures PATENTED 10 I973 3.697.030

' sum 1 OF 2 llx FIG. 2

FIG.3

INVENTOR. PIUS DALE SHULTZ ATTORNEY PATENTEU E 10 1973 3 697 O30 SHEET 2 or 2 INVENTOR. PIUS DALE SH ULTZ ATTofiNE Y MATERIAL COLLECTING MEANS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION So-called refuse bags formed from relatively thin, flexible synthetic resin of a tough nature are available at present, especially to line trash and garbage cans. Even larger size bags of this type are sold to contain lawn clippings, leaves, plant trimmings and the like. Filling the bag with refuse of this type, however, poses a substantial problem because of the very flexible and flimsy nature of the bags.

Many types of bag supporting means have been devised heretofore, especially of a nature which holds bags in a substantially vertical position, particularly while being filled with grain, flour, sugar and many other types of commodities which normally are shipped or stored in bags of various kinds. However, filling bags while supported in substantially vertical position requires a lot of stooping and bending, particularly while filling the bags with lawn sweepings, leaves, and other similar material.

There appears to be a tendency to make bags of the .type referred to which are formed from thin, flexible synthetic resin sheet material of progressively larger size to hold greater quantities of light weight debris, such as leaves. To support such larger sizes of bags in the conventional vertical manner referred to above poses even greater problems in filling the same with leaves and lawn clippings due to the fact that the closed end of the bag usually trails horizontally along the ground while the mouth is supported an an elevated, horizontal position, whereby completely filling the bag with such debris material is a difficult operation.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is the principal object of the present invention to provide a frame formed from a plurality of rod-like members arranged preferably in the shape of a rightangled parallelogram so as to be either square or rectangular and having a pair of downwardly extending prongs at opposite sides of the frame for projection into the ground so as to dispose the lowermost horizontal member of the frame against the ground while the frame is supported in substantially vertical position for purposes of having the mouth of an elongated debrisreceiving bag of thin, flexible material disposed around said frame in open position and folded backwardly upon itself around the members comprising the frame, and clamping means also being provided to maintain the mouth of the bag connected to the frame in order that leaves, grass clippings and the like may be swept into the bag without additional handling or supporting of the bag in any way.

Another object of the invention is to provide several embodiments of said frame, one of which is of a rigid nature and the other is of a collapsible type, the latter being susceptible of being stored in a compact space.

A still further object of the invention is to utilize relatively simple and inexpensive clamping means by which the mouth of the bag is supported in operative position with respect to the frame, at least one of said clamping means comprising a resilient, elongated channel member which is open longitudinally along one side and adapted to be disposed over at least the horizontal lowermost member of the frame when positioned adjacent the ground to secure the bag to the frame and also prevent sweepings from moving beneath the bag.

It is still another object of the invention to utilize additional clamping means of a simple nature such as conventional clothes pins which are operable to support the mouth of the bag relative to the opposite, upper corners of the frame when the bag is supported in operative position thereby.

A still further object of the invention is to form said several embodiments of frame members from relatively stiff wire so as to provide frame members which are inexpensive and may be merchandised as a sales-promotion means in conjunction with the merchandising of refuse bags and the like.

Details of the foregoing objects and of the invention, as well as other objects thereof, are set forth in the following specification and illustrated in the drawings comprising a part thereof.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is an exemplary perspective view of one embodiment of the invention illustrated in operative position and in process of a lawn rake sweeping debris into the open mouth of a bag-like receptacle supported by a frame embodying principles of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a vertical elevation of the frame per se illustrated in FIG. 1 and shown with supporting prongs thereon projected into an exemplary illustration of ground or earth.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of an exemplary channel member comprising one embodiment of clamping means.

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary side elevation, partly in section, showing an additional embodiment of clamping means as seen on the line 4-4 of FIG. 1 but illustrated on a larger scale then employed in said figure.

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view taken on the line 55 of FIG. 1 and illustrating the clamping means of FIG. 3 in operative position.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of another embodiment of receptacle-supporting frame from that illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 which is collapsible but including similar principles of the invention.

FIG. 7 is a slightly exploded view showing the members of the frame illustrated in FIG. 6 in partially compacted arrangement for merchandising and storage purposes.

FIG. 8 is a view similar to FIG. 1 but illustrating the embodiment of the frame shown in FIGS. 6 and 7.

FIG. 9 is a fragmentary side elevation of the lower left-hand corner of the frame shown in FIG. 6 to illustrate details thereof.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to FIG. 1, there is illustrated therein one embodiment of the invention comprising a rigid frame 10, defining an open geometrical figure, details of which are best illustrated in FIG. 2. The frame preferably is composed of relatively stiff rod or wire material. One size which has been found to be suitable is approximately Vs inch in diameter and relatively stiff steel wire is suitable. As shown particularly in FIG. 2, the specific geometrical figure selected for frame 10 is a right-angled parallelogram. It may be either rectangular in configuration as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, or it may be square.

The frame preferably comprises an uppermost horizontal member 12, a lowermost horizontal member 14, which is parallel to member 12, and a pair of substantially vertical side members 16, it being understood that said description pertains to said members when the frame is supported in substantially vertical position with respect to the ground. The side members 16 are also provided at the lower ends thereof with extensions comprising prongs 18 which preferably are pointed on the lower ends thereof. The prongs are of suitable length so that when projected into the ground 20, they are adequate to support the frame 10 in substantially perpendicular position. The lowermost horizontal member 14 will restrict the movement of the prongs 18 into the ground andthe same also serves the following advantageous function.

Referring to FIGS. 1, 4 and 5, it will be seen that the frame 10 is used in conjunction with a bag-like receptacle 22 which may be of any suitable, flexible material. In accordance with current popular practice, however, the bag 22 preferably is of the type formed from relatively thin and highly flexible sheet-like synthetic resin material, such as polyethylene, polypropylene, or other equivalent material. Preferably, the sheet material should be reasonably tough even though quite thin, thereby minimizing the cost thereof. However, the thinness and flexibility of the sheet-like resin material defeats the purpose of readily holding the open mouth 24 of the receptacle 22 open for purposes of receiving debris and waste material, such as leaves, lawn clippings, plant trimmings, and the like. Therefore, the purpose of the frame 10 is to support the open mouth 24 of the receptacle 22 in fully extended, open position and dispose the mouth substantially within a vertical plane relative to the ground in order that the material with which the receptacle is to be filled may be easily and quickly placed therein by sweeping with any suitable means such as the exemplary lawn rake 26, shown in FIG. 1.

The open mouth 24 of the receptacle 22, which is opposite the closed end 28 thereof, has a perimeter or circumference which, in length, preferably is substantially equal to the sum of the length of the uppermost and lower most members 12 and 14, as well as the portions of the side members 16 of the frame 10, exclusive of the prongs 18. By such an arrangement, the open end or mouth of receptacle 22 may be inserted through the frame and then the perimeter 30 of said open end may be folded backwardly around all of the rod-like members which are connected together to form the frame 10. In order to support the mouth in such connected position, however, at least one elongated channel type clamping member 32 is employed in relation to the lowermost horizontal member 14 of frame 10. This type of clamping member is particularly advantageous to hold the portion of the perimeter of the open mouth 24 of the receptacle which extends around the frame member 14 in clamped position and, in addition, increase the rigidity of said frame member in order to resist any tendency for swept material to move beneath the member 14 and the surface of the receptacle which is disposed against the ground. The clamping member 32 preferably is resilient and may be formed of suitable synthetic resin or metal, as desired. The terminal edges of member 32 which define the mouth of the channel may be flared outwardly, as shown in FIG. 3 facilitate attaching it as described.

If desired, additional clamping means comprising suitable lengths of channel-like members 32, such as shown in FIG. 3, may be clamped along the side members 16 to secure the portions of the perimeter 30 of receptacle 22 to which they have been folded. The side members around the same also may be used with respect to the portion of the perimeter 30 folded around the uppermost horizontal member 12 of frame 10. Therefore, the use of such channel-type clamping member with respect to all of the members of the frame 10 is contemplated within the purview of the invention. However, for simplification, as will be seen from FIGS. 1 and 4, a pair of additional clamping members 34 may be used, which are a conventional type of readily available clothes pin, having a pair of jaws which are urged in clamping direction by means of a coiled spring 36. Preferably, the additional clamping members 34 are applied adjacent the upper comers of the frame 10 and extend over the portion of the perimeter 30 of the receptacle 22 which is folded over said corners of the frame at that location. By such an arrangement, it will be seen that the open mouth 24 of the container is effectively held in open position and the lowermost edge thereof is supported in close conformity to the ground by channel member 32 so that highly efficient filling of the receptacle 22 may be accomplished by sweepin operations and the like. 1

In view of the fact that the area of the open mouth 24 of the receptacle 22 as shown in FIG. 1 may be appreciable, whereby the size of the frame 10, which is preferably rigid, is fairly large in length and width, storage and merchandising of the same may pose packaging problems. In order to minimize said problems, however, attention is directed to another embodiment of the invention illustrated specifically in FIGS. 6-9 and in which the frame 38 is of a readily collapsible nature for purposes of rendering it compact for shipment and merchandising. The frame 38 comprises an uppermost member 40, a lowermost member 42 and a pair of side members 44 and 46, said descriptions thereof being applied to the same when the frame 38 is mounted in a substantially vertical position with respect to the ground 48.

The uppermost member 40 is provided with a loop 50 at either end which respectively are connected to loops 52 formed on the upper ends of side members 44 and 46. The lowermost member 42 is shorter than uppermost member 40 and is provided with loops 54 through which the supporting prongs 56 extend when all of the members are assembled in operative position.

In FIGS. 6 and 8 particularly, it will be seen that the side members 44 and 46, adjacent the upper ends of the prongs 56, are provided with short lateral offset portions 58 which extend horizontally. They are provided to form a stop for the upward movement of the loops 54 of lowermost member 42 when assembling the same with respect to the side members 44 and 46. Accordingly, the combined lengths of the two offset portions 58 and lowermost member 42 is equal to the uppermost member 40. Thereby, when the members are all assembled to form a right-angled parallelogram,

such as the rectangle illustrated in the figures, the two side members 44 and 46 will be parallel to each other and the uppermost and lowermost members 40 and 42 will also be parallel to each other. The outline formed thereby also will be equal in length to the perimeter 60 of the mouth of the bag-like receptacle 62, whereby said mouth may be connected to the frame 38 in the same manner as the mouth of receptacle 22 is connected to the frame with respect to the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1-5.

As illustrated in FIG. 8, an elongated channel type clamping member 64, which is similar to the clamping member 32 shown in FIGS. 1, 3 and 5, is preferably substantially equal in length to that of the lowermost member 42 between the loops 54 thereon. Also, as illustrated and described with respect to the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1-5, additional clamping members 66 preferably are used to connect the upper corners of the perimeter of the receptacle 62 to the corresponding upper comers of the frame 38. However, if desired, elongated channel type clamping members similar to member 64, of suitable lengths, may be employed with respect to the uppermost member 40 and side members 44 and 46, if desired, for purposes of securing the perimeter 60 comprising the mouth of the receptacle 62 to said frame. When so clamped, the perimeter 60 will extend in rearwardly folded direction so as to overlie the outer surfaces of the receptacle 62, as well as extending around the respective members of the frame 38 engaged thereby, as in regard to the manner of clamping the perimeter of the receptacle 22, described above, with respect to the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1-5.

The positioning effect of the laterally offset portions 58 of the side members 44 and 46 is illustrated in detail, in fragmentary manner, in FIG. 9, with respect to the side member 44, it being understood that the side member 46 and the offset portion 58 thereof function similarly. Such arrangement firmly positions the lowermost member 42 in contact with the ground when the prongs 56 are inserted therein and the perimeter of the receptacle 62 has been clamped around the various members of the frame 38.

For purposes of folding the various members of frame 38 to arrange them in compact manner, a somewhat diagrammatic, exemplary illustration of at least a partial folding of the members and otherwise compact disposition thereof is shown in FIG. 7 in slightly expanded manner. It readily can be visualized from said figure that all four of the members which comprise frame 38 may be compactly bundled and tied together by suitable means for compact packaging, storage, and merchandising.

From the foregoing, it will be seen that the present invention provides several embodiments of supporting frame for holding the open end or mouth of a refuse receptacle, and especially one of thin, highly flexible type, in fully extended, open position, whereby said open end is disposed substantially within a vertical plane and thereby is efficiently and effectively positioned to receive leaves, grass clippings, and other similar gardening and lawn-tending refuse into the receptacle by the use of a rake, broom, or otherwise.

Particularly when leaves are swept into the receptacle, the same may be compacted by pressing upon the upper surface of the horizontally extended receptacle to crush the leaves and thereby compact the same to permit a very substantial quantity of leaves or dried grass clippings and the like to be compacted into the receptacle until it is compactly filled and thereby minimize the need for unnecessary additional receptacles by effectively and substantially solidly filling the same, when used. Further, the material from which the several types of illustrated frames are manufactured is quite inexpensive, whereby the overall cost of said frames is small, so that frames of this type lend themselves to serving as sale-promotion items, premiums, or the like.

Although the preferred geometrical configurations of the frames 10 and 38 have been illustrated as a rightangled parallelogram, such as rectangular, it is to be understood that other suitable geometrical configurations may be employed, as long as the bottom member which contacts the ground is arranged to abut the ground in flat condition and thereby hold the lower edge of the mouth of the receptacle against the ground so that no appreciable amount of debris may pass beneath said lower surface of the receptacle when in use.

While the invention has been described and illustrated in its several preferred embodiments, it should be understood that the invention is not to be limited to the precise details herein illustrated and described since the same may be carried out in other ways falling within the scope of the invention as illustrated and described.

What is claimed is:

1. A supporting frame for material collection means comprising a pair of side members provided with points on one end for projection into the ground to support the same substantially in upright operative position, an upper horizontal frame member extending between and engaging the upper ends of said side members for support thereby when in operative position, a lower horizontal frame member engageable at the ends thereof with said side members and adapted to be positioned adjacent the ground when in operative position, one of said horizontal frame members being pivotally connected at the ends thereof to said side members and adapted to permit folding of said side members substantially in side-by-side relationship with said one of said horizontal frame members and each other, and means on the ends of the other horizontal frame member engageable with said side members to secure said other horizontal frame member in operative position, at least one of said horizontal frame members being adapted to have portions of the mouth of a flexible bag-like receptacle folded therearound to support said mouth in open position for the reception of material when swept into said receptacle.

2. The supporting frame according to claim 1 in which said means on the ends of the other horizontal frame member comprise loops through which said side members extend.

3. The supporting frame according to claim 2 in which side members have lateral offsets therein adjacent but spaced from one end thereof, said offsets being adapted to be engaged by said loops of said other horizontal member to limit movement thereof on said side members and thereby position said horizontal member operatively relative to said side members.

6. The supporting frame according to claim 1 in which said horizontal frame members and side members are formed from rods disposed substantially in the shape of a rectangle in use and further including an elongated channel member adapted to snap onto the edge of the mouth of said bag-like receptacle when folded around said lower horizontal frame member to secure said folded edge thereto.

I UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. I 3,697 ,03() Dated O b 10 1972 Invento r(s)' Pius Dale Shultz It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that. said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

On the cover sheet [72] the inventor's name "Pius Dale Schultz" should read Pius Dale Shultz sighed andsealed this 20th day of March 1973 (SEAL) Attest:

EDWARD M.FLETCHER,JR. I ROBERT GOTTSCHALK Attesting Officer Commissioner of Patents ORM PC4050 uscoMM-oc scan-ps9 [1.5T GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 959 365-33, 

1. A supporting frame for material collection means comprising a pair of side members provided with points on one end for projection into the ground to support the same substantially in upright operative position, an upper horizontal frame member extending between and engaging the upper ends of said side members for support thereby when in operative position, a lower horizontal frame member engageable at the ends thereof with said side members and adapted to be positioned adjacent the ground when in operative position, one of said horizontal frame members being pivotally connected at the ends thereof to said side members and adapted to permit folding of said side members substantially in side-by-side relationship with said one of said horizontal frame members and each other, and means on the ends of the other hOrizontal frame member engageable with said side members to secure said other horizontal frame member in operative position, at least one of said horizontal frame members being adapted to have portions of the mouth of a flexible bag-like receptacle folded therearound to support said mouth in open position for the reception of material when swept into said receptacle.
 2. The supporting frame according to claim 1 in which said means on the ends of the other horizontal frame member comprise loops through which said side members extend.
 3. The supporting frame according to claim 2 in which side members have lateral offsets therein adjacent but spaced from one end thereof, said offsets being adapted to be engaged by said loops of said other horizontal member to limit movement thereof on said side members and thereby position said horizontal member operatively relative to said side members.
 4. The supporting frame according to claim 3 in which said one of said horizontal frame members which is pivotally connected to said side members is the upper horizontal frame member and the ends thereof are pivotally connected to the upper ends of said side members and said offsets in said side members are adjacent but spaced from the points on the lower ends thereof.
 5. The supporting frame according to claim 4 in which said offsets in said side members extend toward each other in use.
 6. The supporting frame according to claim 1 in which said horizontal frame members and side members are formed from rods disposed substantially in the shape of a rectangle in use and further including an elongated channel member adapted to snap onto the edge of the mouth of said bag-like receptacle when folded around said lower horizontal frame member to secure said folded edge thereto. 